Pursuit Of Happiness
by FLEURescent
Summary: Hermione finally gets close to what she had always dreamed of with Ron when odd feelings decide to come into view. Acting on impulse she experiences something she's never felt before. NOTE: I do not claim these characters nor setting, they belong to JK


"There has to be a reasonable answer for this." Hermione spoke to no one but her reflection, staring back at her in the mirror of the Prefects bathroom. She looked pale, her usually flushed cheeks losing their colour as panic settled in. No matter how much she racked her brain nothing made any more sense than it had to start with, if anything she was even more confused. And Hermione didn't do confused.

Frustrated she gripped the edges of the sink and began to grind her teeth. "An increase in hormones." She suggested to herself aloud then shook her head as she realised the stupidity of the idea. "Come on Hermie, not even your books could explain this." She couldn't help but feel like she had betrayed someone. Her books were all she knew, her favourite companions and on some days her only ones. They had never failed her before, not until now.

She simply couldn't get the girl off her mind. All these years of chasing Ron had finally begun to pay off and all she could think about was Luna.

The thoughts that chased her weren't exactly the norm either. Not about how unordinary and odd the girl was, or how daft she seemed compared to the average person. No, Hermione found herself thinking of Luna's innocent expression, her petite body, her soft skin and her gentle hands. The thought of the blonde girl left Hermione heaving for breath as it was. It was all too new for her, too frightening. Yet she let her mind wonder to the unexplored areas, she let herself think of Luna in ways she hadn't even thought of Ron about.

"Come on woman!" She snapped at herself, "pull yourself together for god's sake." She tugged on her hair, trying to distract herself. "It's LUNA." She spoke as if doubtful in herself, "Loony Luna." The added comment was an attempt at bringing reality and normality back to her. Hermione needed things to make sense.

"I'm quite fond of that title these days, you know?" A soft voice chimed from behind Hermione. She was no longer alone. She hadn't even heard them come in, not a single step nor door creek. "I suppose it makes me stand out." The voice sounded once again and instantly Hermione could feel her insides knotting up and she gasped for air, trying to smooth out the feeling yet failing dramatically.

"Luna." She smiled meekly, refusing to lay her eyes on the girl and simply looking at her feet.

"Are you inspecting your shoes?" Luna asked, curiously. It was her childlike curiosity that Hermione found attractive. "Did you stand on a blumbering bosher like me?" Luna indicated to her own shoes as if expecting Hermione to see something disgusting squished against the soul of her small boots. Obviously there was nothing Hermione could see and she let a nervous laugh slip past her lips, finding it harder to maintain herself with every step Luna took closer to her.

"Um, no I don't think so. Luna." She gulped.

"I didn't see you at dinner," Luna began, changing the subject casually. "I thought maybe something was wrong. Everything's okay, isn't it?" Her voice was as distant as her vacant stare but Hermione could still tell that the girl generally cared.

"Okay? Of course," she laughed again, slowly breaking out in a nervous sweat and her hair starting to frizz from the humidity emitting from her body, "everything's just peachy." She looked to Luna the for the first time that day.

_Shouldn't have done that._ She thought to herself, finding it impossible to remove her eyes from the girl.

"Oh, that's good." Luna's smile grew wider and she brushed past Hermione, her shoulder rubbing against her friends arm for a moment. Hermione felt her knee's buckle but Luna had not noticed, instead she propped herself up on the edge of another sink, sitting soo elegantly and looking as if she could topple off at any given moment.

"Hey Hermione." She began.

"Yeah?" Hermione replied curiously.

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"You know," Luna paused, "Liking Ron." She giggled slightly, the girl-ish sound reminding Hermione why she was so confused in the first place.

"I don't really know how to explain it Luna, why'd you ask?" She avoided eye contact once more.

"Well I think I like someone. But I've never liked anyone before so I don't know how to go about it."

Hermione simply nodded, eagerly listening for more.

"It's a weird feeling, right. Like you're happy all the time," she smiled, "but then you miss them when they're not there." She frowned at this point.

"Yeah, it's not easy, having feelings for someone else." Hermione sighed, trying not to involve herself in the conversation too much.

"I miss you when you're not around, you know." Luna spoke softly, quieter than usual as if afraid someone else may have heard her words.

Hermione felt herself blushing, there was so much she wanted to say but simply couldn't muster up the courage. Meekly she pushed out three small words, "that's nice dear." She had to hide the smile that was dying to creep across her face.

"Like at dinner today," Luna started again, "Normally I can see you right there with Harry and Ron and I feel comfortable." Once more the girl paused, twisting her wand that sat behind her ear, "but when you weren't there today, I didn't want to be there." She sighed, "Do you ever feel like that Hermione?" She hadn't intended the question to be about herself and had expected the reply to be s based on Hermione's feelings about Ron.

"Frequently." Hermione answered simply and the two fell into silence.

Luna swung her legs back and forth from her perch, her robes soaking up the odd patches of water that were left on the sink from its previous user. She continued to smile, looking to Hermione expectantly.

"But it only started recently." Hermione finally spoke. "I just don't know what to do about it Luna, it's new for me too, you know?" She presumed the girl would have figured it out by now but her assumption was all but correct. "I've looked in the library for answers, hints even. I've written to my friends back home and spoken to my mother and everyone thinks I'm mad." She frowned, chewing on her bottom lip, "but I quite like the feeling myself. What do you think should happen?"

Luna thought for a moment, rubbing the back of her neck as she did so. "I think, if you like someone enough, you should do something about it." She smiled meekly, "unless you have lack of courage like myself." She chuckled, knowing she had avoided approaching Hermione before in fear of damaging her friendship with not only her but Ron too. "Show them how you feel." She added hastily, her gaze still somewhat distant as she slipped into a state of daydream, imagining everything she had thought of over the past few weeks.

It was no wonder Hermione's actions took Luna aback. Slowly Hermione had approached Luna, hesitantly brushing blonde strands of matted hair behind the girls ears. Reaching out she lifted Luna's chin till the pair looked each other in the eye once more. Instantly a wave of heat ran over Hermione, touching Luna's skin sent bolds of electricity through her veins, or that's what it felt like anyway.

Luna didn't need to wait to know what was happening next, she closed her eyes softly and lent forward, letting her lips meet Hermione's in one swift movement. And before the two could think twice they were locked in place. Luna's thighs resting on either side of Hermione's hips and Hermione lent on the sink where Luna sat, her hands steadying her.

Luna draped her arms around Hermiones neck in an embracing manner as the two remained locked at the lips, sharing their fist kisses with one another.

Boldly Luna opened her mouth slightly wider, gasping for air slightly before pulling Hermione closer, letting her companion slip her tongue into her own mouth. The two explored every corner of each other's mouths, gently yet passionately.

Hermione found her hands acting on their own accord, but she didn't mind, she was simply grateful of the late hour providing the prospect of being left alone without interruptions. She was no longer steadying herself on the sink; instead her left hand found its way to Luna's back, resting perfectly in the curve of the girl's spine. Her right hand doing the unthinkable and daring enough to run up Luna's thigh with ease.

Luna let a small chuckle escape her lips as the two parted for breath. Not laughter of excitement, but enjoyment. The kind of laugh you'd expect from a child as they opened their Christmas presents. She craned her neck and let her lips land softly on Hermione's neck, burying her face in Hermione's mane of hair.

The feeling providing Hermione with a tingling sensation.

"I think I love you." Luna whispered the words against Hermione's skin as she now guided Hermione's hand further up her thigh, under the layers of her uniform till the girls fingertips brushed across the small lacy frills of her underwear. "Lots," She added the word, removing her hands from Hermione's.

Hermione gulped again, her words caught in her throat. So many feelings surged through her. Excitement, fear, fright, sympathy, empathy, compassion, lust, desire. So many feelings yet she couldn't pick which to follow after. She simply dared to comply with Luna's physical suggestion, edging her fingertips under the lace and silk that covered Luna's most private of parts.

To Hermione's surprise the rest came naturally, it hadn't been something she had been taught, or read about or thought about even. But the sigh and silent yelps that Luna let slip told her she wasn't doing it wrong as her fingers ventured the last place she had expected them to. Her hand moving back and forth rhythmically, slowly increasing with speed and force.

She looked up, Luna now throwing her head back slightly, her eyes focusing on something distant as she breathed heavily, her clammy hands twisting the hem of her sweeter vigorously until with one final sigh she seemed to fall slightly limper than earlier, a soft smirk on her face and her eyelids falling heavy.

"Maybe I should miss dinner more often." Hermione joked half heartedly and the two, still heaving for breath, laughed together, Hermione letting Luna press her forehead against her own.


End file.
